


love at first clean & slightly wrinkled t-shirt

by AlNiCa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I am absolutely never ever projecting onto Shiro ever, Laundry, M/M, Meet-Cute, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 22:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20713823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlNiCa/pseuds/AlNiCa
Summary: Shiro has a routine. He wakes up at the ass-crack of dawn on Sunday mornings. He gets his coffee and cashback from the local Rite Aid. He goes into his favorite laundromat, gets quarters, and starts his laundry in washer #6. All goes according to plan that morning until he walks in to see #6 has been taken.By the man of his dreams.





	love at first clean & slightly wrinkled t-shirt

**Author's Note:**

> if you thought you saw this on twitter as a thread, you'd be right. i'm no longer allowed to attempt twitter threads, i don't have the energy or attention span to finish them

Shiro got to the laundromat conveniently located with a Rite Aid and parking lot at 8 am, bright and early so he could beat everyone else to all the good washers.

He’d been putting off laundry as long as possible, which explains the pink biker shorts, neon green crew neck from when his friends dressed up as sour skittles for Halloween, and Allura’s black fuzzy slides he accidentally put on that morning while wandering around like an idiot in the dark.

After getting a coffee he didn’t need from Rite Aid because he’s an ADULT who forgot cash for quarters and needed cashback, he entered the door and was immediately crushed seeing his favorite washer had already been taken. He looked around to see who the culprit was and noticed another man, about his age, in short, demon overalls with no undershirt munching on a bagel in the farthest back corner.

He wanted to scold him, let him know that he’d personally attacked Shiro, but he’s...really fucking cute. Sure, his bright red boots with the overall ensemble he’s wearing was almost as obnoxious as what Shiro had on, but his long braid looks soft and fun to play with and Shiro desperately wanted him to look up so he could see his eyes.

In the time it took to focus back on the present and not the long legs of the handsome bagel man, the washers are mostly taken (most are broken, so it doesn’t take long), so he decided to take up a bench and read until the handsome stranger vacated washer #6.

Ten minutes into reading Shiro heard a phone ringing; it was the handsome stranger’s phone. He tried to not listen in but the moment he heard bagel man’s voice Shiro wished he wore something a little less...ridiculous. He’s embarrassingly flustered if he’s being honest. He shouldn’t be that interested just from someone’s voice. Can you be turned on by someone’s VOICE?

He had no idea if sexy overall man was even interested in men but Shiro’s gay, single, and completely infatuated so his new mission in life is to find out. 

It’d been a bit since he’s tried to start a meaningful conversation with a random stranger, a lot longer since he’s attempted flirting, so he texted the groupchat (Matt and Allura) asking for advice. In between Matt being an ass about how “baby has grown up so much” and Allura suggesting he propose marriage he kept peaking glances at the handsome stranger. His face warmed when he’s caught more than once. 

The man smirks at him the third time. 

Shiro feels nauseas. No. Nervous. Uh. His hands are sweaty. He really hopes he doesn’t panic sweat through his neon clothes. 

He’s an adult. He’s capable and intelligent. But apparently an extremely cute man dressed equally foolish as him in a laundromat smirking at him on a Sunday morning is his Achilles heel. 

He almost prayed to whatever god may exist when he finally heard the buzzer for handsome stranger’s washer. Shiro desperately tried not to look when he got up to take out his clothes, trying not to seem like a total weirdo. 

Shiro closed his eyes and took a deep breathe then grabbed his basket and detergent. He’s going to say hi. He will. He  _ can _ do this. 

Except, when he looked up he saw that the handsome stranger was already gone and the front door was swinging close. It’s not uncommon for people not to use the dryer but he didn’t take that into consideration when mentally preparing himself. 

He sighed, momentarily mourning the one that got away and preparing himself to get roasted by his friends for taking so long to say something before he gets up and goes to start his laundry. 

_____________

Shiro went home with a clean bag of laundry, too much caffeine in his system, and a bad mood over his self-sabotage earlier that morning.

While he rather mope with his cat all day, he had a long list of things he needs to get done before tomorrow so he dragged his laundry bag into his room to get going on putting clothes away. Allura came home midway into folding and while they’re busy talking and listening to music, he noticed a red shirt sticking in between a pair of jeans that he didn’t recognize.

He held up the shirt and noticed that it’s sheer, definitely not his since it could barely fit his left bicep, and is absolutely not something Allura would wear. 

Sensing his halt in movements, she looked up from her phone and cocked her head, “I’d ask if it was from a random hookup but you haven’t gotten laid in 13 eons.” 

He huffed as he turns it over to further examine. He’s about to throw it on the bed when it dawns on him. Shiro lifts up the shirt again and nearly screamed (okay, he kind of screams). 

“What the fuck was that for?!”

“THE GUY. THIS IS THE GUY’S SHIRT! HE USED THE WASHER BEFORE ME!”

Allura perked up from where she was perched on Shiro’s bed, “Oh my god, it’s fate. Now you have a reason to talk to your soulmate again.”

“He’s not my soulmate,” he grumbled out as he held the shirt more delicately in his hands. Sure, she’s right about having a reason to talk to him. Only one problem: he doesn’t even know his name.

“I’ve never seen him before today, how the heck am I supposed to find him?”

Allura raised her finger and quickly paused, “that’s..actually a good question. How old do you think he looked?” 

“About our age, maybe a little younger?”

“Oh! Schools starting soon, maybe he’s a new student and moved early?” 

“Allura you’re a genius!” He frowned, “Except there are about 30,000 students that also go to our school.”

She groaned and rolled onto her back. 

Shiro held up the shirt; there had to be a way to see the handsome stranger again. 

_____________

It takes Shiro another 3 weeks. Not only to see the handsome stranger again but also to do his laundry. 

He walked into the laundromat on Sunday morning with a different canned coffee than the time before, cash ready to be redeemed for quarters, hoping his favorite washer is open.

That’s when he saw him. 

He’s sitting in the same spot in the back as last time, now with a book and headphones in. Instead of overalls, he’s got bright green leggings that are either cropped or made for a child and a grey tank top that says “#1 grandpa.” Still wicked attractive. 

Shiro’s glad Allura reminded him about the shirt before he left. He grabbed his quarters, got his clothes in his second favorite machine (today is not the day to be trivial about such things), and walked over to the handsome stranger as casual as possible. 

He coughed, trying to get his attention. The man looked around then up when he saw Shiro standing near. 

He took out his headphones, “Yeah?”

“Sorry to bother you, but would you happen to be missing a red shirt?”

Handsome stranger raised an eyebrow, “yeah, actually. How’d you know?”

“I uh, used the washer after you last time I was here. It must’ve been left in and it ended up home with me.” 

“Oh cool, do you have it with you?”

Shiro nodded yes and turned around to go get it. He had to bend over to reach into his bag and when he turned around he could’ve sworn the man was snapping his head up, trying not to get caught looking.

Shiro filed that information away as he walked back to hand him the shirt. 

“Thanks, I appreciate it. It’s actually one of my favorite shirts.”

Shiro smiled, “It’s no problem. I’m Shiro by the way.” He held out his hand, a little formal for the laundromat but too late to take it back and not be weird.

The handsome stranger shook his hand, “I’m Keith. Nice to meet you. You from around here?”

“I’m in grad school actually. Just starting my second year.”

That seemed to get Keith’s attention. “Oh really? What program? I’m about to go into my first year.”

“I’m in the education program. My Bachelor’s is in physics, I’m hoping I could teach high school one day.”

Keith smiled (it was beautiful), “You seem like you’d be a fun teacher. I’m starting in the animal science program. I’m hoping to be a vet one day.”

“That’s awesome. Probably a lame question but what’s your favorite kind of animal?” 

“Penguins. I’ll most likely never work with them but they’re so cute and walk funny.”

Shiro laughed, “A good choice.” He heard a washer beep and Keith started reaching for his bag but paused midway. 

“Not to sound lame but...I just moved here and my only friend is my roommate. Would you uh, want to hand out sometime?”

Shiro could hear the confetti cannons going off in his head at the ask. Keith wanted to hang out with him. KEITH. WANTED. TO. HANG. OHT. Oh my god Shiro bREATH.

“Yeah absolutely,” he said as casually as possible as he reached for his phone, “Here, add your number.”

Keith added his contact and texted himself, “Cool, it was really nice meeting you Shiro. And I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.”

Shiro gently waved as Keith left the laundromat, wet laundry slung over his back in a Hello Kitty laundry bag. 

God, he was so fucked. 

_____________

Shiro waited two days to text Keith. Allura advised that he should wait longer while Matt tried to wrestle him to the ground the minute he got home to try and FaceTime him right then and there. 

He sometimes wonders how their friendship had survived so long but remembers they’d all probably die if it wasn’t for each other.

He sent the text three minutes ago, a simple  _ “Hey, it’s Shiro. How’s your first couple of days going?” _ So far no reply but he didn’t know Keith’s schedule so he wasn’t going to stress it. He put his phone down while he started up some reading for his own classes that were already ridiculous 36 hours into the semester. 

Two hours later he felt his phone vibrate with a text from Keith,  _ “RIP @ me” _

Shiro tried not to laugh too hard, personally knowing first hand the struggle Keith was going through.

_ “That bad?” _

_ “I haven’t been in school in a couple of years, I think I’ve forgotten how to think linear thoughts. And take notes.” _

_ “I had the same issue, if you want I can help you organize your notes and give you some studying tips?” _ _   
_

_ “Holy fuck that would be amazing. I can cook you dinner as payment? I’m pretty good with a spatula.” _

Oh my god. DiNNER?!

No, shush Shiro. He said it was for doing him a favor. Calm yourself. 

He looked over to see his cat giving him an extremely judgemental face as he tried to formulate a response that wasn’t ‘pls marry me now.’

_ “That sounds great, I’m a lousy chef. When are you free?” _

_ “Friday night? My roommate will be home but they don’t care if I have people over.” _

_ “Sounds good to me, I’ll get my teacher glasses out.” _

_ “LMFAO, okay Professor. I’ll be prepared.” _

_____________

Shiro pulled up Friday night to the address Keith texted him. He was a little nervous to be going to his house the first time they’re really hanging out, but they’d been texting throughout the week and he’s getting strangely comfortable with Keith already.

He knocked on the door, as instructed, but immediately heard yelling from those inside. He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but he could tell it wasn’t anything serious, more like when Matt and him got into it over who got shot-gun when they’re driving to his parent’s house.

Thirty more seconds passed before a winded Keith opened the door, his smile was bright and his hair was messily falling out of the bun on his head, “Hey, sorry about that. My roommate chose now to be a punk. Come in, dinner’s almost ready.”

Shiro kicked off his shoes and followed Keith down the hall to his shared living room where his textbooks, laptop, and notebooks were already set up. Shiro was in the process of taking his own notebook out when one of the doors in the hall swung open to reveal what must’ve been Keith’s roommate. 

Shiro, always wanting to be polite, perked up to say hello when he was greeted with none other than Pidge, his best friend’s chaotic-good younger sibling who last minute decided they wanted to finish their Bachelor’s in two years so they could start grad school early. Who also wanted to find their own roommate. Who’s roommate just so happened to have been Keith.

“Pidge?”

“Shiro? Are you stalking me?”

He laughed, “I have your phone number, I don’t need to stalk you.”

Keith walked out from the kitchen, confused, “Do you both know each other?”   


“Oh yeah, I’ve known Pidge for years. Their older brother is my best friend. I had no idea you were roommates.”

Pidge nodded in confirmation but paused, critically assessing the current situation, before loudly gasping and maniacally laughing. 

Shiro cocked his head, “What’s so funny?”

Pidge turned to Keith, “SHIRO’S THE HOT GUY FROM THE LAUNDROMAT YOU WON’T SHUT UP ABOUT?!”

“PIDGE!!!!” Keith yelled. Shiro could see the blush rising from beneath his collar. All up his neck and covering his entire face. Pidge went back into their room and Keith turned to Shiro attempting to sputter out any coherent words to explain.

“I’m sorry, I uh, I didn’t, uh, yes okay you’re cute but, I do genuinely need some help and uh, I’m. Fuck,” he sighed, “It’s okay to leave if you want. I get it if you’re uncomfortable..”

Shiro just stood there, speechless, with warm cheeks of his own, “You think I’m hot?”

Keith groaned into his hands, “Yes okay, you don’t need to drag it out.”

Shiro laughed, “Well, that actually makes it less weird since I also think you’re attractive.”   


Keith looked up, “WHAT.”   


Shiro took a deep breath and stepped forward, but not too close as to make Keith uncomfortable, “You don’t have to decide anything now, and I do plan on helping you organize your notes, but what are your thoughts on ice cream?   


Keith squinted at him, “Ice cream?”

Shiro looked down, trying not to show how flustered he truly was, “Yeah. Like uh, there’s this farm nearby that has really good ice cream. Maybe we can go this weekend?”

“Like...as a date?”

“Yeah, a date.”

Keith was about to respond when the first alarm in the kitchen started going off, “Fuck! The burgers!” He ran in to try and clear the smoke, but poked his head out quickly to say, “It’s a yes, by the way.”

**Author's Note:**

> RIP Rite Aid
> 
> i'm dumb idk what to tell you 
> 
> Commenting can be hard and require a lot of energy - emojis, emoticons, lil hearts - mean so much to me and are all 100% considered a valid comment that will bring joy to my smol gay heart, thank u
> 
> As always, feel free to let me know if you ever need me to tag something
> 
> Come say hi!   
Twitter: nax_zela  
Pillowfort: naxzela


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